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Bright Spark Electrical Services are approved installers of Sync Energy EV chargers across Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks and Crowborough. The Link is Sync Energy's newest and most design-forward home EV charger, and it takes a noticeably different approach to how a charger sits on — or in — a building. If you've looked at EV chargers and thought they all look like grey plastic boxes bolted onto walls, the Link is worth knowing about. This article covers exactly what it is, how it works, the two installation options available, the integrated consumer unit that comes with it, and the smart features that make it genuinely useful for managing energy costs long term.
The Link is a 7.4kW single-phase smart home EV charger produced by Sync Energy, part of the Luceco PLC group. It was launched in late 2025 as Sync Energy's most design-led product to date — described by their own product team as taking AC chargers to the next level, with an innovative design that allows the charging outlet to blend seamlessly into the fabric of the building.
What makes it different from most home EV chargers on the market is its two-part construction. Rather than a single self-contained box mounted on a wall, the Link splits the visible socket outlet from the control unit. The socket face sits at the wall — flush into it in a recessed installation, or clean against the surface in an on-wall installation — while the control box can be positioned up to 50 metres away, hidden inside a garage, tucked into an outbuilding, or mounted in a utility room. The two parts communicate via a Cat 5 cable run between them.
The result, particularly in the recessed configuration, is a charging point that is barely visible as a piece of equipment. At just 37mm deep when installed recessed, with no visible wiring at the socket face, it looks closer to an architectural detail than an electrical appliance.
It carries the same IP65 and IK10 ratings as the Wall Charger 2 — fully weatherproof and highly impact resistant — and is compatible with all Type 2 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Like every Sync Energy charger, it connects to the Sync Energy App and runs on OCPP 1.6J connectivity with free lifetime over-the-air firmware updates.
The Link comes in silver and is available with Wi-Fi and LAN, or Wi-Fi, LAN and 4G depending on variant. A load balancing kit is included as standard.
The choice between recessed and surface mounted is the first decision to work through, and it's worth understanding what each one actually involves before assuming one is more practical than the other.
A recessed installation means the socket outlet sits flush within the wall — set into the wall surface rather than protruding from it. The front face of the socket is at 37mm deep, so virtually nothing protrudes beyond the wall line. There are no visible cables at the socket face. The finish is genuinely architectural — it looks like a considered design choice rather than an add-on.
For this to be achievable, the wall construction needs to allow a back box to be chased in. This works well with brick, blockwork, rendered walls and cavity walls, and it's particularly suited to new builds where the routing can be planned from the outset. It also works well on retrofit projects where the homeowner is prepared to have some minor making good done around the socket — the result justifies the additional prep work involved.
The control box is installed separately, up to 50 metres away. In a typical domestic installation, this might mean the socket face on the outside wall of the garage, with the control box inside the garage on an internal wall — completely out of sight, accessible for maintenance, but invisible from the driveway. The Cat 5 cable runs between the two, concealed within the wall cavity or in conduit.
This configuration is also well suited to integral garages, where the socket can be on the internal garage wall facing where the car parks, and the control box can be on the far wall or in a cupboard. Every cable, every component, out of sight.
The surface mounted version uses the same two-part system but the socket outlet is fixed directly onto the wall surface rather than recessed into it. It still has the same slim profile and clean finish — considerably neater than most surface-mounted chargers because the control electronics and consumer unit are in a separate box — but it doesn't require any chasing or making good.
This is the more practical option for retrofit installations where the wall construction makes recessing difficult or impractical — older stone walls, solid brick with limited depth, or any situation where disturbing the wall fabric isn't desirable. It's faster to install and suits a wider range of property types.
Both options deliver exactly the same 7.4kW output and share all the same smart features. The only difference is the aesthetic outcome and the installation method.
One of the Link's genuinely distinctive features — and one that sets it apart from the Wall Charger 2 — is that the consumer unit is integrated into the product. The control box that comes with the Link is a pre-wired metal consumer unit enclosure. The consumer unit and the charger's control electronics are combined into a single unit, supplied as one complete kit.
This matters for two reasons. First, it simplifies the installation significantly. Rather than needing to run a new circuit from the property's main consumer unit to a separate EV consumer unit and then on to the charger, the Link's control box contains all the necessary protection devices within it, mounted close to — or up to 50 metres from — the socket outlet. No separate enclosure to source, no additional parts to fit, no extra time on site coordinating separate components.
Second, it keeps the installation contained and self-sufficient. The pre-wired control box includes Type 2 SPD (surge protection device), a 40A B Curve MCB, and 40A 30mA double pole Type A RCD protection. This combination provides comprehensive circuit protection — overcurrent, overvoltage, RCD fault detection including DC components — without requiring any additional upstream devices in most domestic installations. Open PEN conductor protection is also built in, meaning no earth rod is needed on most installs.
The practical upshot for the homeowner is a cleaner job, fewer components on the wall, and a neatly contained system. All the electrical complexity is in the control box, wherever it's positioned. The socket face at the wall is just a socket face.
The control box itself is a robust metal enclosure with multiple cable entry points, a removable raised DIN rail for easier cable routing, and an upward-opening cover for convenient access. It's designed to be positioned in a protected location — inside a garage, inside a utility room, in a lockable cupboard — rather than fully exposed, although it is fully weatherproof in its own right.
The Link connects to the Sync Energy App and delivers the full suite of smart charging features available across the Sync Energy range. For anyone coming to this article from the main Sync Energy overview on this website, the detail below covers how these features work in practice — they're the same across the Wall Charger 2 and the Link, so if you've already read that article, the principles are identical.
Tariff Sense connects to your electricity tariff — compatible with most major UK providers — and automatically schedules charging for the cheapest periods of the day. For EV drivers on a standard rate tariff, this alone can save several hundred pounds a year by ensuring the car charges overnight rather than during peak hours. The Link is also compatible with Intelligent Octopus Go, one of the most competitive EV-specific tariffs available in the UK, where the overnight charging rate is substantially lower than the standard rate. On Intelligent Octopus Go, scheduling is managed via the Octopus app, with the Sync Energy system working alongside it.
Auto Solar Charging allows the Link to work directly with a solar PV installation. Using a CT clamp that monitors the property's energy import and the solar generation, the charger automatically diverts surplus solar power — electricity your panels are producing that isn't being used in the house — into the car rather than exporting it to the grid. For homeowners with solar panels already installed, this is a meaningful way to extract more value from the existing system. For anyone planning solar in the future, having the Link already installed means it's ready to integrate without any additional work to the charger.
Dynamic Load Balancing prevents the EV charger from overloading the property's electrical supply. The load balancing kit is included as standard with the Link. It monitors total demand on the supply and reduces the charging rate automatically when the property's total load approaches the supply limit. This is particularly relevant in properties with heat pumps, electric showers or other high-demand appliances that may run simultaneously with EV charging.
Smart Scheduling and Charge Management through the app allows target charge levels to be set — charging to 80% rather than 100% is better for battery health in most vehicles — along with charge start and end times, boost charging for an immediate top-up, and cabin pre-conditioning so the car is warm before the journey without drawing on the driving battery to do it. Real-time monitoring tracks energy usage, cost per session and historical data, so you can see clearly what home charging is costing month by month.
OCPP 1.6J is the industry-standard open protocol for EV charge point management. All firmware updates push over the air, automatically and free of charge, throughout the life of the charger. The Link won't become obsolete as regulations, tariff structures or the broader energy ecosystem evolves.
The Link is the right choice when aesthetics matter and a recessed or particularly clean surface installation is either possible or important to the homeowner. It's well suited to:
New builds and recently renovated properties, where the wall construction is straightforward to work with, the routing can be planned from the start, and the homeowner has invested in the finish of the property and wants the charger to reflect that.
Properties with a garage or outbuilding, where the control box can be positioned inside out of sight while the socket sits clean on the external wall or inside garage wall facing where the car parks.
Design-conscious homeowners who have specifically asked for a charger that doesn't look like an afterthought. The Link is the answer to that conversation.
Properties where the distance between the parking position and a practical installation point for the control box is significant — up to 50 metres of separation between socket and control box gives considerable flexibility that most chargers simply can't match.
It is worth noting that the Link is an untethered, socketed charger — there is no tethered cable option in this range, unlike the Wall Charger 2. You use your own Type 2 cable, kept in the car. For most EV drivers this is straightforward, but it's worth being aware of before committing to the Link if you specifically wanted a cable permanently attached.
The Link is fully compliant with The Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021, including Schedule 1, and carries UKCA marking. The integrated protection — Type 2 SPD, 40A MCB, 40A 30mA double pole Type A RCD, open PEN conductor protection and two-layer anti-tamper — means the installation meets all current BS 7671 requirements without the need for additional upstream protection devices in most cases.
The Type 2 socket has an auto-lock that engages when a charge session begins — the cable cannot be pulled out during charging — and the halo RGB LED indicator around the socket face gives a clear status indication at a glance. Blue for standby, flashing green for charging, red for a fault condition. The charger operates reliably across a wide temperature range, -25°C to +55°C, so performance won't be affected by cold winters or hot summers.
Sync Energy backs the Link with a three-year on-site warranty, valid when the unit has been installed by an approved installer. UK-based technical support is available for the life of the product.
The Link also sits within Sync Energy's broader Flow range of home energy products — hybrid inverters, modular stackable battery storage and solar power diverters — all managed through the same Sync Energy App. For homeowners who are thinking about home energy management beyond just EV charging, the Link is already part of that ecosystem rather than a standalone product that needs to be bridged to it.
As with all our EV charger installations, the process begins with a free, no-obligation site survey. For the Link specifically, the survey is particularly important because the two-part design means there are decisions to make about socket position, control box position, the cable route between the two, and whether a recessed or surface installation is practical for the specific wall construction.
We'll assess the earthing arrangement, the property's supply capacity, and the most practical routing for both the main supply cable and the Cat 5 cable between socket and control box. On some properties the recessed option is immediately straightforward. On others, a surface installation gives a better outcome with less disruption. We'll give you a straight recommendation at the survey stage with a clear explanation of why.
Installation typically takes between two and four hours for a straightforward job. At completion we carry out full electrical testing, commission the charger, connect it to the app, and walk you through how to use it. Full certification and documentation is provided, and the installation is notified under Part P Building Regulations as required by law.
If you're in Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Crowborough or the surrounding area and want to talk through whether the Sync Energy Link is the right charger for your home or business, get in touch.
Call us on 01892 531 728, email karen@brightsparkelectrician.co.uk,
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